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December 23, 2016

The end of the year and Holiday season is always a perfect time to reflect back on the past year and look forward to what’s to come in the new one. Although I have a general feeling of 2016 having been a difficult year on many aspects, I was thinking back earlier of all the happy memories from this year, and realised that after all it had also been pretty good.

Even if I would have loved to do a lot more with Food Moods in 2016, I’m learning the art of acceptance and to be content with how things turn out, and I hope you’ve enjoyed what I shared on this special online space over the last 12 months. I also wanted to say a huge thank you for all those of you who read my blog and support me doing one of the things I love the most!

Here I’m sharing one last recipe for this year; if like me you like to have lighter meals in between the holiday celebrations and flourish of treats, this dish would make a nice light lunch (or you might want to save the recipe for January!). The salad can easily be prepared ahead of time, to allow the seasoning to soften slightly (though they will retain their crunch) and flavour the vegetables. You could also decide to replace the red cabbage with radicchio salad and use purple kale instead of green for more of a monochrome dish. I served it alongside a bowl of fruity and spicy quinoa, which definitely gave festive flavours to it. This all made a simple but truly satisfying and delicious winter meal.

Wishing you a happy Christmas and a healthy, abundant and vibrant New Year! Xx

1.Preheat the oven to 150°C.
2.Prepare the salad dressing in a large salad bowl by mixing together the orange juice, some salt and pepper, the wholegrain mustard and the olive oil.
3.Place the hazelnuts and sunflower seeds on a small baking tray and place in the oven for 10-15min until golden and fragrant. Set aside to cool.
4.Shred the red cabbage, fennel and beetroot very finely using a mandolin slicer or a sharp knife. Chop the kale finely, after having discarded the central hard stem. Place all the ingredients in the salad bowl and mix well using your hands, to coat the vegetables with the dressing.
5.Place the quinoa in a small saucepan with the raisins, cranberries, cinnamon and all spice, cover with about 500ml water, bring to a gentle boil, cover and leave to simmer for about 15min or until all the water is absorbed.
6.Sprinkle the salad with the hazelnuts and the quinoa with the sunflower seeds and serve.